There has been a tremendous advancement in medical
technology over the last 3 decades. The ever-growing number of therapies almost
stumps a medical connoisseur. This also means that would-be doctors now have to
learn how to think out-of-the-box.
The
advent of Internet
Now, the online courses clearly come in two
categories; paid and free. The paid ones are obviously more graded and you can
feel the sense of responsibility on the shoulders of the mentors. They have got
to dispense with useful attributes; after all, they are getting paid for it.
The
innate urge
However, as the chip goes, there is an innate urge
to look for freebies no matter which sector Man jumps into. The urge is no
different in online circuits. Therefore, the popularity of free medical online
courses is always on an upsurge.
Here is dissecting the best 10 current medical
online courses, which are relevant to the modern times and reflect upon the
psyche and present lifestyle in a resounding manner. Let’s take a ponderous
look –
1. FutureLearn – If you are
earnest about medical online courses, you can hardly ignore FutureLearn. It liaises with several UK universities of
repute. It keeps dishing out medical courses and other regimes with glorious
regularity. It takes a vantage position owing to 40 years of experience.
The
free courses come in the 3 hours per week format and are completed within 6
weeks. You also get certificates if you pass the test. FutureLearn is privately
owned by Open University. Currently, one of the major courses begins on 24th
August – The Science of Medicines through
Monash University.
Now, this course raises you almost from scratch. You
absorb how medicines are conjured out of clinical formulations. You understand
how different brands with specific medicinal names are actually decorations of
a generic formula.
You also imbibe how tremendous research goes into
analyzing different diseases and eventually, the medicines are cultivated from
that research. Through the course, you learn how effective certain medicines
are and what side effects they may lead to. Funnily, the more side-effect a
medicine has; the greater impact it has on a disease, albeit on a temporary
basis. This is a directive principle in the world of medicines.
Of course, this science keeps raising the bar with
inveterate technologies and continual researches. Just as new diseases keep
getting discovered, the medicines for them keep getting conjured. These
medicines are then checked for general effect; rooting out the exceptions
(there are bound to be a few ugly ducklings after all). It is an emergent
course which has to be pursued with complete attention and diligence.
2. Coursera – Coursera
is an education platform gelling with brilliant universities and offering
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to interested students. It delves into
different disciplines. If you skirt the medical line, you will have great
options to score here.
One
of the significant courses slated to begin here is Diabetes – A Global Challenge to be initiated by University of
Copenhagen on 1st September 2015. The course will run for 3-5 hours
per week and will be completed in 6 weeks. Certificates are due if you show
earnestness.
Interestingly, even as researchers have found out
everything there is to diabetes, they have not come out with a precise
treatment as of yet.
You may find different therapies according
specialized treatments and actually showing tremendous results on some people,
but the very therapy goes bust with others. Yes, there are preventions galore;
particularly in keeping the sugar level and cholesterol under control. These precautions
however lose their zing in due time as most people find that despite
precautions, they keep going into a deeper rut.
Presently, insulin dosage and injections act as the
sole solace. Yes, you can have broccoli and yam to beat the heat or sugar of
you will. Question is – Can patients affirmatively get out of the screws?
Even the healthcare centers get goose bumps when a
rich diabetic patient enters their shores. They know the patient won’t budge
till he is completely cured and also that there is no complete cure for the
disease. The course will enlighten you on other important notes.
3. EdX
– At EdX, you know you can
interact with others and enjoy the advantage of MOOCs. It arranges free online
courses from accredited universities; such as Harvard and Colgate. Being a
non-profit initiative, it is taken in good esteem by methodical students.
Currently,
one of the major online courses set to reveal on 26th August 2015 is
PSYCRx: Medicating
for Mental Health: Judicious Use of Psychiatric Drugs through Colgate University. It will run for 4
weeks and students will get 3-6 hours of information per week.
Here
students will learn the actual impact of medicines and will understand the
psychiatric impulses emerging out of the medicines. They will get on the same
page with psychologists and decipher why certain medicines are prescribed for
patients undergoing particular mental problems.
This
will strengthen their roots and they will learn not to mess up medicines and in
effect, imperil patients. This online
course will especially be beneficial when a family member is grasped by a
psychic condition. They will learn about the brain; its signals and symptoms on
getting conditioned by psychiatric drugs.
4. Canvas.net
– With Canvas.net, is a platform raised by Instructure where
students can interact with luminaries of different fields. There are adept men
galore if you wish to trace the medical fields. This is again a free
enterprise.
One
of the smart courses coming up is Health
and Wellness 101: Everyday Small Changes. It will be on the shelves on 14th
September 2015. The course would be 10 weeks long with a defined syllabus for
each week.
It
will teach the students the simple facets; how to gain wellness by tweaking
small measures correctly. Proper nutrition, sleep and stress managements are
keys, ably supported by exercise and activity.
The
first 5 weeks will delve into the impact and prowess of nutrition and perfect
health planning. From there on, everything opens up like a leaf. A fit body
courses easily towards relief of stress and is more amenable to proper sleep.
5. UniversitePlus
– At UniversitePlus, students from the
English community will gain enormous grounds. However, technically,, its MOOCs
are meant to enlighten Turkish and other Middle East students. The medical
courses on the line are inspired and acute.
One of its inquisitive medical courses is the Vinyasa
Yoga. It is a self-paced course, keeping into consideration the fact that
people do Yoga according to their set schedules and convenience. Yoga is an
oriental inclination, which has emerged out of India and has gradually become a
global toast.
It ensures perfect health of the practitioners. It
regulates blood flow and lowers cholesterol levels. Most importantly, it gives
the practitioner an acute control over the thought process. Through the
breathing practices, you learn to remain calm and composed even during
stressful circumstances.
This course captures the essence of Vinyasa Yoga
quite meticulously. You can easily get the English-translated renditions if you
desire.
6. EdCast
– At EdCast, you get a teeming
sea of educational network, what with credible resources, reference materials
and interactive sessions between instructors and students. Its Knowledge Cloud
is all-encompassing and brings different subjects under the radar. Medical
online courses are one of the keys to its success. It is a non-profit
initiative.
One of its successful courses is self-paced, and is
called Basic Food Safety through Michigan State University. The course sheds
light on the vitiation of food due to commercialization and constriction of
time. The popularization of fast food and processed food is a huge curse and is
severely detrimental to human health.
However, since the food stuff tastes good and can be
easily prepared or enjoyed, people on the run prefer this variety, ignoring its
ills. The course suggests the pivotal problems that you may face if you don’t
stick by the codes of safe food.
It also teaches you to conjure safe and healthy food
in quick time, so you can dissuade yourself from unhealthy food. Many
ingredients utilized in junk and processed food are carcinogenic; meaning you
are giving a straight invitation to Cancer. This cannot be good news, just as
the world has begun to get health-conscious and fitness-conscious.
7. Open2Study
– Australian Open University runs classy initiatives to impart education on
students through online ventures. The free enterprise Open2Study is a quest in that
direction. It keeps enlightening you through collaboration with different
universities on various subjects including medical courses.
One of the impacting courses running since 3rd
August and slated for 4 weeks is Understanding Common Diseases. This is
brought to the fore through University of Wollongong. It is amazing how we all
know about common diseases and yet as we go deep, we find that we know so
little about them.
This course dissects some of the commonest diseases
such as common cold, Diabetes and High Blood Pressure. You understand the
inherent system of the body – The behavioral patterns of the different systems
in the body and their inter-relation; maintenance of correct pulse and blood
pressure; ensuring hormonal balance et al.
You gain an innate knowledge about the immune system
of the body and how you should read the symptoms of different diseases. This
automatically culminates into the stylized treatments for the maladies.
If you go through the course, you can aspire to be a
health promoter, a qualified nurse or even a doctor. Of course, you will need
to enroll in physical courses for them but your base will be stronger.
8. NovoEd – NovoEd is a social media
experience where the benefactors have culled out this platform to bring out
same-minded fellows up for some experiential learning experiences. It gets the
nod from graded universities, and many courses are run through the
Universities. The emphasis is ever on reeling world problems of the day.
One of the significant upcoming medical courses of
the day is Hippocrates Challenge, to be brought forth by Stanford
University. The model of the course is about putting you as a doctor in a
crisis situation. You have to get out the rut through your innate understanding
of the profession.
You gain vital knowledge about the human body and
how they respond to diseases, trauma and other acute problems. Your core is strengthened in the context of
regenerative science.
The model is actually about a ship in 2032 where you
are thrust with a massive responsibility; to cure a glut of people so that they
can safeguard the ship with full vigor. You will need to have your wits up your
sleeve.
Through interactions with experts, you learn quick
ways to make repairs. You also learn a lot about surgical procedures on this
course. In this sense, it is extremely educative. The course is one of the few
online practical processes.
9. Stanford
OpenEdx – The Stanford University is ever attempting to traverse new bridges. Their
Vice provost and connected engineering team are trying hard to bring forward
unique online platforms to bring more students under the ambit. Stanford OpenEdx is a step towards
that.
Students are offered free online courses in
different disciplines, including the medical line. One of the practical and
incursive courses is Women’s Health: International Women’s Health and Human
Rights. It began on 30th July 2015 and the course is 8 week
long. It is poised for a rerun as it has garnered enough positive reviews.
The course is an eye-opener towards the
discrimination that the modern women face at various levels. The fact that
female feticide is still in business and many people prefer sons to daughter is
harrowing, to say the least.
It is amusing how women are blamed for bearing
daughters, when it is male chromosomes that result in the creation of male or
female embryo. They also suffer dichotomy in offices; not only at home.
This course brings students on the platter and
exhorts them to find more about the economic, political and social freedom of
women. Students are requested to gain a deeper understanding by interacting
with families and neighboring societies. They are also expected to bring a
change in their small capacities, leading to an unequivocal equal status of
women in the world.
10. Study.com – Study.com has arrived as a
brilliant initiative to learn about diverse things. Different subjects are
categorically picked and dissected with method and precision. You also get your
pick of medical courses. Quite a few of the site’s medical courses are free.
One of the fetching courses that it presents is Health
102: Substance Abuse. It connects with fashionable and credible
universities for most of its courses. This course is about the various elements
that become the root cause of substance abuse.
Tobacco, alcohol and common drugs make up the plinth.
You are also enlightened about hallucinogens and
anti-depressants. You learn how certain drugs bring chiasmic relief to you and
you fall into its habit, thus losing torque in the long run. The course makes
an acute classification of drugs and inhaled substances; with cocaine and
marijuana decorating the lists.
You learn about the regulations in place as also the
directive principles of Pharmacology. You gain information about various
stimulants and cannabinoids. In this regard, it is a highly stylized course
with unique interventions. You get to tread waters you have hardly been into
and understand the precept from inside.
Some of these drugs lead to anxiety and hypnosis.
Your eventual aim is to make people aware about the effects and thus wean them
off the destructive habit.
Not driven
by profits
All the mentioned online courses are free and emerge from platforms which
are mostly there to enlighten students with no profit initiative whatsoever.
Their courses are either self-paced or run from 4 to 6 weeks, with cursory
exceptions here and there.
The medical field is extremely subjective and takes into account the
psychic and physical modes with equal gravity. The human body is itself so
complex that you may be at a loss without graded courses shedding light on
particulars.
Thanks to free enterprises, students can look forward to enlightening
times without much fuss. What more, they also get certificates if they manage
to absorb the courses with prescience.
In conclusion
There is a feeling that when the courses charge you, they naturally
attain responsibility to endow you with knowledge. This is a myth. Knowledge,
in itself, is not bound by any parameters. Thanks to a few helpful Universities
and excellently devised platforms, you can utilize the free medical courses
online at your convenience.
If you go through the courses, you will find that together, they map
wholesome nuances of the medical field. You gain a foothold and can grow from
thee to become a doctor, a nutritionist or a nurse as you desire. Discipline is
the key.